Key
chocolate ingredients could help prevent obesity, diabetes
Improved thinking.
Decreased appetite. Lowered blood pressure.
The potential health benefits of
dark chocolate keep piling up, and scientists are now homing in on what
ingredients in chocolate might help prevent obesity, as well as type-2
diabetes.
They found that one particular type of antioxidant in cocoa prevented
laboratory mice from gaining excess weight and lowered their blood sugar
levels.
Andrew P. Neilson and colleagues explain that cocoa, the basic ingredient of
chocolate, is one of the most flavanol-rich foods around. That's good for
chocolate lovers because previous research has shown that flavanols in other
foods such as grapes and tea can help fight weight gain and type-2 diabetes.
But not all flavanols, which are a type of antioxidant, are created equal.
Cocoa has several different kinds of these compounds, so Neilson's team decided
to tease them apart and test each individually for health benefits.
The scientists fed
groups of mice different diets, including high-fat and low-fat diets, and
high-fat diets supplemented with different kinds of flavanols. They found that
adding one particular set of these compounds, known as oligomeric procyanidins
(PCs), to the food made the biggest difference in keeping the mice's weight
down if they were on high-fat diets.
They also improved glucose tolerance,
which could potentially help prevent type-2 diabetes.
"Oligomeric PCs
appear to possess the greatest antiobesity and antidiabetic bioactivities of
the flavanols in cocoa, particularly at the low doses employed for the present
study," the researchers state.
Story Source:
The above story is
based on materials provided
by American Chemical Society. Note:
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Journal
Reference:
1.
Melanie R. Dorenkott, Laura E. Griffin, Katheryn M. Goodrich,
Katherine A. Thompson-Witrick, Gabrielle Fundaro, Liyun Ye, Joseph R. Stevens,
Mostafa Ali, Sean F. O’Keefe, Matthew W. Hulver, Andrew P. Neilson. Oligomeric Cocoa Procyanidins
Possess Enhanced Bioactivity Compared to Monomeric and Polymeric Cocoa
Procyanidins for Preventing the Development of Obesity, Insulin Resistance, and
Impaired Glucose Tolerance during High-Fat Feeding. Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry, 2014; 62 (10): 2216 DOI:10.1021/jf500333y
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American Chemical Society.
"Key chocolate ingredients could help prevent obesity, diabetes." Science Daily, 2 April 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140402110000.htm>.